Meghan and Harry joined the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the inaugural Royal Foundation Forum. Photo / Getty Images
Meghan and Harry joined the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the inaugural Royal Foundation Forum. Photo / Getty Images
Meghan Markle voiced her support for the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns during her first official appearance with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge this morning.
The former actress, 36, and Prince Harry joined William and Kate at the Royal Foundation Forum in London to update the public on their charitable projects.
According to the Daily Mail, Markle encouraged women to "use their voices" rather than "find" them, praising women for speaking out against sexual harassment.
She said: "I hear a lot of people speaking about girls' empowerment and women's empowerment. You will hear people saying they are helping women find their voices.
"I fundamentally disagree with that because women don't need to find their voices, they need to be empowered to use it and people need to be urged to listen.
"Right now with so many campaigns like #MeToo and #TimesUp there's no better time to continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people supporting them."
#MeToo and #TimesUp are viral campaigns that have spread around the world after the Harvey Weinstein Hollywood scandal, encouraging women to share their own experiences with harassment to highlight the "magnitude" of the problem.
Meghan and Kate shared several laughs during the event. Photo / Getty Images
Meanwhile Harry heaped praise on his future bride, adding: "I am personally incredibly proud and excited that my soon-to-be wife, who is equally passionate about seeing positive change in the world, will soon be joining us with this work."
It is the first time the foursome have been pictured together since they attended a Christmas Day church service in Norfolk with most the royal family.
After Markle pledged to "hit the ground running" regarding her charity work, Prince Harry could be heard quietly mentioning the "wedding", which prompted laughs and Markle to joke: "We can multi-task."
Markle said she could not go into detail on what future work she would be doing, but added: "I certainly know how passionate I am and Harry and I see the world so similarly in our approach of being very hands-on with things."
Meghan and Harry plan to "multi-task" with their charity work and wedding planning. Photo / Getty Images
William officially welcomed Markle to the family, adding how "delighted" he was for her to join them at the event, which was greeted with a warm round of applause from Kate.
Harry added having Markle join the foundation would be a much welcome addition, adding: "I think it's really good we've got four different personalities, we've all got that same passion to want to make a difference but different opinions.
"And I think those opinions work really really well. Working as family does have its challenges - of course it does. The fact everyone is laughing means you know exactly [what I mean] - but we're stuck together for the rest of our lives."
Markle said the four of them brought their own perspectives to issues: "Thank goodness [there are] such differing personalities and everyone's very communicative because that's how you can really see bigger change - if everyone's thinking the same way how are you going to push the envelope, how are you really going to break through in a different sort of mindset?
"Changing mindsets, and all of that, is all part of this communication that we have constantly so I think it's part of the reason they've had so much success with Heads Together."
Markle will become a patron of the charity alongside Harry, William and Kate after the wedding in May but is already involved and is expected to answer questions on various projects at the London forum.
Asked for her thoughts about the foundation, Markle said: "To see the model of the foundation is really interesting because, while I've worked with larger NGOs, I've also worked with really small grassroots organisations where you can see a higher level of impact in my opinion, because there's a lot less red tape.
The four looked very happy together during the event. Photo / Getty Images
"What you are seeing here and what I noticed with Heads Together from a global perspective, because I wasn't here obviously when it was happening, was the power of convening all of these small organisations who have this same issue but need that extra push and support under this umbrella, you are able to achieve that.
"And the impact they all made with Heads Together was tremendous.
"So I'm very excited to be able to work on initiatives similarly and have that same sort of impact globally."
Markle said she had "just been here for three months" but added: "With that said, for me it's very important to want to hit the ground running.
"Even if it's doing it quietly behind the scenes, which is what I've focused my energy on thus far ... is meeting with the right people, meeting with the organisations behind the scenes quietly, learning as much as I can so I can maximise the opportunity we have here to really make an impact."
William and Kate expressed their delight at the news of Harry's engagement last year.
